Article on Russia in The New Yorker

[Josh Wilson]

And of course, I'll be the first to admit that my blanket-statement about
the western media was a blanket statement and at least partly reprehensible
in itself.... I just couldn't resist the humor that it lent itself to!  

I would also, however, add to this informed statement by Malavika
Jagannathan that one can have a "big story" without making it entirely
negative (and some do, reporting on consumer and lending booms in Russia). 

I would also agree that it is not the journalist's job to educate every
American about every issue they write about. However, the journalist should
at least know this information themselves, which I strongly doubt is
information that many of the authors of many of stories I roll my eyes at
everyday have... 

-----Original Message-----
From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
[mailto:SEELANGS at listserv.cuny.edu] On Behalf Of Malavika Jagannathan
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 12:12 AM
To: SEELANGS at listserv.cuny.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Article on Russia in The New Yorker

As a newspaper reporter who majored in both journalism and Russian studies
in college, I read this article with some interest as I do generally with
stories published on Russia.  Personally, I found it an illuminating piece,
despite its somewhat critical angle (not all of which I agreed with,
especially the author's comparison of Putin and Yeltsin).

But I think it's unfair to blame the Media for projecting a "negative image"
of Russia. The cold hard reality of journalism is that for an
international story from any country to get play in domestic newspapers or
magazines, it has to be big.  And often, those big stories tend to be the
explosions, the hostage crises and contract-killings of government critics.
Much of the criticism I'm hearing in this forum is eeriely similar to the
criticism thrown at the media by the Bush administration, who often say that
reporters in Iraq never write stories about the "good" the United States is
doing in that country.

I'm not defending all the reporting done on Russia; in fact, some of it is
grossly inadequate.  Many of the reporters who land these overseas
assignments (fewer and fewer it seems as newspapers cut down their foreign
coverage) do not have a background in the country they are assigned to.
Without the benefit of an academic background, though, these reporters do a
decent job and often on a tight deadline.  For that, we should give them
some credit.  After all, it's not the journalist's job to teach the American
public a crash course on a country's history and culture - that's what our
educational system ought to be doing.

It is also interesting to note that the editor of the New Yorker, David
Remnick, was the former Washington Post Moscow correspondent and that his
magazine writes more Russia-related articles than most other mainstream news
magazines.

Sincerely,

Malavika Jagannathan


On 1/31/07, Josh Wilson <jwilson at alinga.com> wrote:

> I think that western coverage of Russia is beautifully summed in how it
> has
> reported on the Russian weather....
>
>
>
> Last year, Russia had one of the coldest winters in history. The Western
> media reported that the Russians were miserable.
>
>
>
> This year, Russia has had one of its warmest winters in history. The
> Western
> media has reported that... the Russians are miserable.
>
>
>
> Politics aside, I think we can all agree that our media does have bias for
> reporting, for whatever reason, that the Russians are miserable. Show
> these
> articles to the average Russian (as I do sometimes in Russia, which has
> become my home), and they will ask you where, exactly, THAT Russia is.
>
>
>
> Unfortunately, many Americans will also ask where Russia is on the map...
> which is likely how our media gets away with their reporting...
>
>
>
>
>
> Josh Wilson
>
> Asst. Director
>
> The School of Russian and Asian Studies
>
> Editor-in-Chief
>
> Vestnik, The Journal of Russian and Asian Studies
>
> www.sras.org
>
> jwilson at sras.org
>
>
>
>
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-- 
~Malavika Jagannathan~
mjagannathan at gmail.com

2505 Jenny Lane Apt. 2
Green Bay, WI 54302

Cell: (847) 644 9868
Work: (920) 431 8359

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

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